Let’s face it that the charged for value of a brand is sometimes exhorbitant versus the finished product that the consumer actually purchases, and especially in the area of fashion and fashion accessories, where trends come and go rather quickly it is sometimes a moot point if true value for money is offered by the original product. This leads to a ready market for cheap imitations that get discarded next season in favour of more trendy items.

Educating consumers on the differences is a good thing, which will lead to cheaper fakes being easily identified, but as for more high-end rip-offs (like some Rolex watches I’ve seen where even jewellers can’t tell the difference) being passed off as the real thing (albeit at a really great price - which most savvy consumers are loathe to disregard, as everybody loves a bargain / good deal) I just don’t know.

I wear glasses so I mostly use dorky clip-ons. However, if I buy an expensive set of clip-on polarized sunglasses for fishing they’re almost certain to get broken or lost. Because of this, I’m not about to pay for a pair of prescription Oakley Frogskins Sunglasses.